Penholder with ink-guard



April 13, 1937 L. LONGO 2,077,340

' PENHOLDER WITH INK GUARD Original Filed Nov. 19, 1934 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 April 13, 1937.

L. LONGO PENHOLDER WITH INK GUARD Original, FiledjNov. 19, 1954 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PENHOLDER WITH INK-GUARD .Luigi' Longo, Rome, Italy:

Application November 19, 1934, Serial No. 753,713. Renewed November 10, 1936. In Germany November 24, 1933 3 Claims. (01. 120-104) The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of penholders with inkguard by arranging this ink-guard of shield form at a considerable distance from the fore-end of the penholder in order to compel the pupil to hold the penholder in themanner prescribed by the pedagogues.

In penholders of this kind as hitherto known the ink-guard is either slidable at will on the holder or placed directly on the fore-end of the holder. In the first case no security for the right attitude of the fingers is obtained and in the second case a wrong attitude is favored.

As already known, the ink-guards may very l5 advantageously be spring-actuated, so as to render them adapted to be moved inwards to a certain amount against the action of the spring, allowing the pen to be inserted in an ink-well to the necessary extent, whereas after this operation the spring brings back the ink-guard in the initial position. The present invention provides also an improvement in this known device by the fact that the penholder is entirely smooth behind the ink-guard. A further important improvement of the new ink-guard consists in the fact, that to a certain extent it is pivotablearound a diametral shaft, allowing thus an oblique position of the ink-guard towards the penholder and an adaption to the different length of the fingers.

By using a penholder according to the invention the pupils will acquire a much higher ability in drawing and writing and as the penholder is perfectly stiff and has no movable parts where the fingers are grasping it, the fact of the existence of a device is not considered as an inconvenience.

A few examples of the new penholder with inkguard are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a penholder with inkguard according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the longitudinal axis of the penholder of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the ink-guard used wit the penholder of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 shows in a section according to Fig. 2 a slight variation of the inner device, the spring being placed before the ink-guard;

Fig. 5 shows in front view an easily dismountable ink-guard;

Figs. 6 and 7 show as a detail the springs to be used together with a penholder according to Figures 2 and 4 respectively;

Fig. 8 shows in a longitudinal section a penholder in which the ink-guard is guided on the 55 holder by means of a tube;

Fig. 9 shows in perspective the pivotable ink-'- guard, the guiding-tube and the spring according to'Fig. 8; l

Fig. 10, shows a penholder with a decorative ink-guard;

Fig. 11 shows this ink-guard fixed on the guiding tube.

The penholder l shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has the recess 2 on its fore-end somewhat longer than usual, and from side to side a small slot 3 goes through the holder. 'In. this slot vthe ink-guard 4, shown in detail in Fig. 3, is slidable, being guided by means of its axle 5 on its movement from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. As it will be seen in the figures, the anterior position is at least about 1 cm. distant apart from the foreend of the penholder and the ink-guard can only be moved inwards along the penholder against the action of a spring, which may be placed behind the ink-guard as the spring 6 in Fig. 2, or before the ink-guard as the spring I in Fig. 4. In order to allow an easy assemblage, the axle 5 may be threaded at the ends 8 and 8 (Fig. 5) and after its fitting may be fixed by small screws 9 and 9 In this case the springs 6 and 1 may be assembled with the axle 5 by means of a small perforated plate In as shown in Figs. 6 and '7. The springs 6 and I fitted on the middle part of the axle do not interfere with an oblique position of the axle 5 relative to the longitudinal axis of the penholder, as shown in Fig. 1; in Figure 2 it can be seen that the ink-guard 4 pivoting on its axle 5 is enabled to take various positions. The middle finger being longer than the index the shield will take usually the oblique position shown in the Figures 1, 2 and 4, whereas the shield will take a perpendicular position relative to the axis of the penholder as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 when the pen is being inserted in an ink-well. In this case the ink-guard can slide along the slot 3 and reach the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

The form of penholder shown in Fig. 8 has the advantage to be adaptable also for very thin holders. The guide of the ink-guard 4 is here a sleeve ll having fixed on its front end the spring l2, whereas on the rear end the sleeve H carries two half pins l3 and l 3 on which the inkguard 4 may turn. In a decorative penholder as shown in Fig. 10 the encased shield 14 may be fixed on the sleeve l5 instead of being pivotable. It will be understood that the free end of the spring l2 (Figs. 9 and 11) must be welded on the hull l6, when the parts are assembled.

It is to be noted that the essential feature of the invention is the following:

The shield forming the ink-guard returns always to the same point (after each movement) and therefore it maintains always the same distance from the fore-end of the penholder. That is for compelling the pupil since the first moment to holdthe penholder with the fingers always on the same point. This wants an effort of the pupil and the efiort conduces to custom to hold the penholder in the right position and corrects the natural tendency to hold it near the pen.

This natural tendency is exp licable, as the penholder is a lever and the pupil is instinctively in-. duced to exercise pressure on the end of the lever, in order to write easily and swiftly.

It is in the intention of the inventor that the ink-guard maintains always a fixed minimum distance of about 1 cm. from the fore-end of the penholder. For pedagogical reasons as well as for physical reasons of muscular development it is very noxious if this distance is variable at will of the pupil. In order to obtain a specific custom the distance must be fixed and not variable; that is to say the distance must be always the-same specially in the period when children begin to write. The natural tendencies of the pupils must be corrected in the beginning, as a bad custom is "always very difi'icult to correct.

What I claim is:

1. Penholder comprising in combination a penholder body having a central recess and side slots, an ink-guard slidable upon said body, a spring within the recess to maintain the ink-guard normally in forward position and a pivoted axle associated with the ink-guard to engage said slots whereby to limit the forward movement of the guard, and also enable it to assume inclined positions relatively to the axis of the penholder.

2. Penholder comprising in combination a penholder body having a central recess and side slots, an ink-guard slidable upon said body, a spring 'within the recess to maintain the ink-guard normally in forward position, a pivoted axle associated with the ink-guard which passes through the slots laterally across the penholder, enabling the guard to assume inclined positions relatively to the axis of the penholder said axle being threaded at the ends and screws thereon to allow easy assembling and disassembling.

3. Penholder comprising in combination, a penholder body having a central recess and side slots, an ink-guard slidable upon said body, a spring within the recess to maintain the ink-guard normally in forward position, half pins secured to the ink-guard enabling the guard to assume inclined positions relatively to the axis of the penholder and a tubular sleeve for guiding the guard along the penholder body.

LUIGI LONGO. 

